John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I tabled this question because last Thursday I, along with Deputies Higgins and Timmins, met with the US ambassador and his officials. At that meeting we discussed food security, the co-ordination between Ireland and the US, and the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs in this regard. We had a lengthy discussion on the benefits of possibly co-ordinating our efforts. The Minister of State has answered the question, specifically on the three-year partnership in Malawi. As he said, there is a readiness to collaborate on other issues in sub-Saharan Africa. Can the Minister of State indicate the benefits that would arise from such collaboration? I presume that we will take on any productive collaboration with the US if it means getting better value for Irish Aid's expenditure. Will the Minister of State tell us specifically about the kind of co-ordination and collaboration he is talking about?

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